Paper Mario: Stolen Worlds
Paper Mario: Stolen Worlds (also known as Paper Mario: Wario's Outrageous Conquest in Japan) is an entry of the Paper Mario series, and is a sequel to Paper Mario Drawing of Disaster, both in term of improved gameplay from Paper Mario 64 and The Thousand-Year Door, and also in chronological order. Like its predecessor, it is developed by Gear Games with visual and audio assistance from Intelligent Systems, and released for the Evo-Gem in . Although it retain multiple "damage controls" in the predecessor, it dropped the drawing aspect in favor of the heightened focus on the Partner mechanic, with the tagline that indicate that there will be more Partners than any previous Paper Mario games, both Intelligent Systems and other video game comapnies. Indeed, every single past Paper Mario Partners produced by Intelligent Systems are returning as part of the new Partner Card mechanic, alongside multiple sets of Partners made by individual other companies. It also mark the return of all Partners from the Recut version of Sticker Star and Color Splash as well, and even includes Kersti and Huey from respective games as fully fledged partners. Although the Pixls from Super Paper Mario also returns, they are only available via special badges called Pixl Badges. The director of the video game, , confirmed that there will be over 100 Partners throughout the game, and collecting them will allow the player to experiment and have a dream team. DLC is also planned for Partners that appears from the future. Gameplay See Paper Mario Drawing of Disaster, as the core mechanics remains the same from the predecessor with a few changes. The major difference is the retirement of the Drawing mechanic, although a very few Drawing Attacks are given for Rainizia. Instead, the player need to collect enough Partner Cards to advance to the next world while also progressing thorough the current world's story and stages. Mario will not earn anymore EXP if his level is already higher than the enemy side, which is to prevent the player from becoming too powerful too quickly. That said, boss rematches always give EXPs as rewards as they measure up to the player to keep difficulty more consistent. The player can also upgrade the theatre by just leveling up again, with the Superstar rank available at Level 50, Hyperstar at 65, and True Star at Level 80. Leveling up will also have all Partners to raise HP or FP with Mario. Because of the aforementioned change, Blue Spheres are also repurposed; they are now used to Upgrade a Partner to grant them access for a Super Rank, an Ultra Rank, and returning from Paper Mario 5: The Rise of Shadow, the Omega Rank. This time, upgrading a Partner will not augment their HP nor FP because of the level up improvement, but can still boost Normal Ranked, Super Ranked and Ultra Ranked moves respectively. Partner Cards Parnter Cards, as the new and important addition of the game, allows the player to make his or her dream team, in addition to new traditional Partners. While Partner Cards cannot be used for field, they each have a Card Perk to make up for that, which tend to be minor but turn the tide when the player is lucky or strategic enough. Like in Paper Mario: Drawing of Disaster, up to three Partners can be active in a battle, allowing the player to make a powerful team, or a more fun combination such as all three Partners being Goombas. The player can quickly switch regular Partners and Card Partners without making any of them losing a turn, but only if they didn't made a move yet. Some Partner Cards may also be needed for overworld progression as well. A different type of Partner Cards is the Mushroom Allies, which are well-known allies (and enemies) of Mario from the Mushroom Kingdom, as well as the Mushroom World as a whole. An unique distinction from regular Partner Cards is that a Mushroom Ally can take the place of Mario in the Team Menu before taking in a battle. During a battle, Mario cannot be replaced by any of the Mushroom Allies and vice versa, and a leading Mushroom Ally cannot be replaced by another one as well, to prevent excessive meatshielding. If the leading Mushroom Ally is taken out, the game is over even if Mario is AOK. Paper Mario: Stolen Worlds/List of Partner Cards Story Like the predecessor, Paper Mario: Stolen Worlds have a slightly straightforward story in each World, but ultimately have an overarching arc, as well as some lore hidden within the smaller details. Paper Mario: Stolen Worlds/Dialogues Summary for each World This is only a summary for the prologue, short Interludes and each Worlds, to allow readers like you to figure out the story without needing to read all of the dialogues. Mushroom World: Similar Face, Shocking Fury In Mario's house, Luigi speaks about how they remembered their past adventures, but creeps out when he remembered about the "moment where a jester take over his body". Mario had shaken his head in agreement. Outside of the house, instead of Parakarry (like in the first two Paper Mario games and Paper Mario: Drawing of Disaster), a regular Toad with a party hat arrives and knock the house's door. The Mario Brothers mistook it as an alarm and hurriedly rushes toward the door, with the Toad leaving a surprised expression from the loud noises caused by the Mario Bros. Upon just Mario opening the door with his hammer ready, the Toad, who is shown to be Parr T, simply delivered a pink letter for Mario, who hastily open it in panic and read the letter... and as he slow down his reading, he sighed in relief as the letter reads that Peach had invited multiple notable Mushroom World habitats to have a reunion for a Yearly Mushroom Union. Luigi then exits from the door and, not knowing what Mario saw in the latter, rushes toward the castle. The surprised Parr T asked for Mario what was with his brother, with Mario only shrugged in response. Parr T told Mario that the letter should come earlier but the "usual delivery Paratroopa" had been missing from sight since the Creation Island incident, much of Mario's surprise. Parr T then add for Mario to meet at Peach Castle, with Mario following by. This cutscene can be fully skipped without repercussion. Upon reaching the castle, multiple people of various species around the world had already been in the castle hall, with the likes of Captain Toad, Princess Daisy, Mayor Pauline, and even Donkey Kong and Diddy Kong. Luigi himself had already reached the castle hall as well, being confused at first before seeing both Peach and Daisy, sighing in belief. As Mario choose to talk with Peach, the princess seems happy at first, but as she tells how the reunion goes well so far, she also start to frown and added that although she did invited Bowser and his son, she expressed concern that they may not receive the letter in time does to the slown down letter delivery and that if they ever noticed that a reunion goes without them having the invitation first, Bowser will might get upset and engage another kidnapping or other malicious actions. Indeed, Bowser, his son Bowser Jr, and some of his troopers, most notably Kamek and Kammy, were already reaching the castle via airship, with Bowser complained that the bad guys were never invited to the reunion despite the fact that they become slightly more accepting toward them. "Its not like I want to destroy the world or anything!", he up-roared. This is until Kamek reminds him that Bowser did destroyed their own world but "only as a plan to destroy their world's Mario and Luigi", but Bowser preferred to not remember. Bowser Jr. quickly noticed that a cloud hovering over Peach Castle went golden yellow, with his father simply responded that its likely a coin rain and tell some aerial troopers to seize it just in case. As the Koopa Troop assault the castle, it wasn't until Mario's intervention and Bowser getting defeated that Peach stand up and simply explain to Bowser that the letters are delayed does to the usual deliveryman being absent. Although Bowser understands, he angrily respond that next time the mail delivery service have a similar problem, someone should told him before hand. That said, another uninvited guest popped in and this time, that guest is the greedy Wario... and his golden, deluxe ship, and he gives a warning that soon, the Mushroom Kingdom will become his golden empire. After being insulted by Bowser as a "stupid amateur act", Wario retaliated by putting most of Bowser's Koopa Troops except Bowser himself and Junior. But what in the world makes him to do that!? Even Bowser himself is utterly surprised that Wario really went thorough this and try to furiously attack him but, as nobody would expect, Wario seems to be boosted and punched him to the ground, and Mario is giving chase, still shocked at Wario's threat, with Luigi following by despite slight hesitation. The Mario Bros. managed to catch the saucer by the tail, and managed to enter one of the doors just in time. ---- As the ship managed to effortlessly take down all of Bowser's airship fleet, it is up to Mario to put a stop of Wario's latest scheme of greed. Mario simply need to take down two Wardons with Luigi's assistance, and then avoid simple-to-avoid obstacle, while Luigi barely made it but nearly get tripped. Thankfully Mario catches him and the two managed to get into the cockpit, where Wario is waiting, but strangely, Wario's partner-in-crime Waluigi is nowhere to be seen... As the cockpit is reached, Wario taunts the Mario Bros., thinking that they could beat him so easily. Luigi simply question why was he doing it and what happened to Waluigi, with Wario simply but rudely replied that he fell into poverty, that Waluigi's double-cross act almost costed his life, and that his rivalry with Mario feels empty since he saw that Bowser passed more and more time dealing with Mario, and had enough with all of this. After Luigi's helping Mario to remember about the Guard and Superguard (much of Wario's chargrin and impatience), the battle really starts with a typical battle where Wario use a Shoulder Bash, a Ground Pound, and a failed attempt to use his Wario Waft. But even with Wario seemingly losing, a very angry Wario said that "this is only the beginning, Loser Bros!" and suddenly gained more power and his HP increased to tenfold, with Mario and Luigi being barely able to damage him. Unfortunately for them, Wario eventually overwhelm them, one by one, and even convert Luigi into a card, much of Mario's fright. Wario reveals that he had managed to convert his anger into pure power and practiced it since Mario's Odyssey traveling, allowing him to "Rage Smash". Before he finish off Mario, Wario reveals that he also did it to "some of his special friends"; he reveals a whole collection of Mario's past partners, from Goombario to the Mini-Yoshi to Pirlumbus to even Kersti and Huey. Mario is completely horrified, and shake his head as in asking why. Wario simply tells that he do it to spite Mario and that he might do it for his friends and his "old-school nemesis" Bowser and the rest of his army as well. Wario then punched Mario so hard that the latter is sent flying, and then deliver an even more sinister cackle to the point of going surreal, before running out of air and heavily breath, before resuming his smug face. ---- As Mario went flying away from the Mushroom World to another, similar planet, the camera skip to a column-infested ancient town, and then scroll to a wooden house where a haired Magikoopa resides, reading books. The Magikoopa seems very busy with reading books, but was very calm as she sip a cup of tea... if a familiar scream and then Mario crashing into the middle of the room. The Magikoopa is rather mildly surprised that it is someone else instead of one of the delinquents, and present herself as Kamenia, the Column Town's local witch. After a talk or two with Kamenia, Mario had become convinced that Wario isn't joking around; Kamenia had explained to him that he had already built his own empire before he invaded the Mushroom Kingdom, in the Mushroom World she studied often out of curiosity. But she then continued that he mastered his "Adrenaline Power", which boost his strength and resilience to even higher level, especially after eating a garlic, and learned how to "Rage Smash", an extremely powerful move that not even someone else with superhuman strength can normally do this. Kamenia grievously added that all of this allows Wario to easily make other rotten habitats to surrender and join him, and slowly built an army before he made his own empire on a formerly deserted planet, the Wario World. But until Mario had found a proof, Kamenia wouldn't bother to go out as she wanted to find further proof before she could warn the villagers about it. After managing to pick a piece of a damaged wing, as well as capturing a photo out of the ship with the help of a photographer Eye-Moe, Moe-Joe, who is found in his antique shop. Moe-Joe then recognized the ship as one of the W.I.L.D.'s scout-ships. After giving the two proofs to Kamenia, the latter is stared in awe but accepted them, and showed them to the guards, who at first seems skeptical, but after a W.I.L.D. Scouter Ship approaching, they quickly believed Kamenia's words and the latter warned Mario to hide. After that, Kamenia joins Mario, but explicitly tells him that just her and Mario would not be enough to bring down the whole W.I.L.D. and that they should bring about a small army to even get a chance with them. Ancient World: Old Friends, New Problems In the Rocky Woods, Mario and Kamenia had encountered various rocky NPCs, with from Moe-Eyes to Clefts to Rockuses, many of which are too afraid to leave the forest because of the W.I.L.D. Scouter Ships wondering around. One cynical Rockus, Rocko, even outright said that even if the W.I.L.D.'s leader Wario "is quite of a buffoon, he's an extremely dangerous buffoon" and that just Mario and Kamenia will never stand a chance against them. Kamenia agreed with Rocko, and tells Mario that they should gather volunteers to stop the W.I.L.D. threat. Rocko refuse to volunteer in a somewhat cowardly fashion, albeit his matter of speech makes it difficult to immediately know it. As the heroic duo passes thorough the maze, the Deluxe Rider flied by, and Kamenia used her magic to hide herself and Mario in bushes, and whispered toward Mario that they shouldn't be detected this early since they would not be able to confront Wario yet. The Deluxe Rider head above the Big Book Babylon, reached by the northern exit of the Rocky Woods. ---- Optional Interlude - This whole cutscene can be skipped but may provide important story information. The Deluxe Rider flied by, with a surprisingly worried yet determined Waluigi hanging from the left wing, with an angry yet worried Wario calling the former crazy and will just order the ship to slow down so that he expect Waluigi to jump down to safety, but instead the cheatsy purple plumber entered from the door and angrily ask Wario why he didn't bring Waluigi alongside with him. Wario bluntly said toward Waluigi's face that the latter's double-cross almost killed him this time and that ever since Bowser is getting on Wario's rivalry with Mario much more recently and his constant financial failures and wondered why he and Waluigi ever teamed up in the first place. Waluigi, feeling weak but quickly try to act like a tough guy, laments that without Wario, he's nothing but just a Luigi's rival wannabee as not even the latter truly takes their rivalry seriously, much of Wario's laughter. That said, Waluigi decided to do what he wanted to do "that one time"; causing chaos, starting with messing with Wario's Deluxe Rider's interior and gets dangerously close to Wario's card collection, much of the latter's anger, and Wario go into a furious chase after him, already having enough with Waluigi's deteriorate troubles. ---- Kamenia had suggested Mario to look for a Laddiebug called Ledel, who was a retired general of an army that once fended away a previous evil empire. This Laddiebug inhibit in a house made of yellow and blue books. Upon the two heroes talking about the situation with Ledel, the latter simply replies that the W.I.L.D. had already taken out most of the armies, but that the rest of them take refuge at the Fossil Fortress. Wario's Deluxe Rider was seen far away, near the Fossil Fortress, with the cards seemingly flied out everywhere, and Waluigi was seen kicked out of the ship to the twinkle sky, possibly by Wario, before the ship moved away. A twin card of Goombario and Admiral Bobbery are seen falling and slipped into a very large red book with a red lock, with a "!?" pattern printed into it. Upon using an Unfold Block to unlock the big red book and retrieved the two cards, Kamenia figured the cards are impervious to attacks and accidents, but that her magic may help them to get out of the cards. And turns out, she's right, as with her poof of magic, Goombario and Bobbery had escaped from their cards. The two are confused as if asking what happened, Goombario being the more concerned and Bobbery being the more flustered, but eventually realized that "a mean, fat man" had captured them into these cards. That said, the cards are still on Mario's hands, and Kamenia commented that these cards might be on use for later. They then head to the road that leads to the Fossil Fortress, where they have to cross thorough the Float Boat first. ---- More to come... Characters Partners All arts for the new partners will be done by . Partner Cards are found on the Paper Mario: Stolen Worlds/List of Partner Cards subpage. Locations Ten major locations as well as multiple sub-locations, and each World have one "Chapter" Boss. The Prologue take place in the Mushroom Kingdom for the tutorial fight, and then at the Magicil City of the Ancient World. Locations where a major boss is faced is marked in italic. Mushroom World (Prologue) Ancient World Engine World Bestiary The Bestiary contains both old and new enemies, be it from the typical mainline enemies such as Goombas, Koopas and Hammer Bros., to returning Paper Mario enemies like Clefts and Clubbas, to of course new foes like Wubbles and Dizzels. More details will be shown in the link below. Paper Mario: Stolen Worlds/Bestiary Items Support Minigames Pop and Bop Quick Guess Roshambo Returns Boss Museum and Boss Blast Trivia *Paper Mario: Stolen Worlds have the most Partners of any Paper Mario game, with over 100 Partners confirmed by the game's director. This is primarily does to the Partner Card mechanic and the story allowing multiple past partners to return without completely shoehorning them. *That said, all Partners who didn't debuted in this game, the previous Intelligent System produced games (recut version belongs to DMZ) or Drawing of Disaster belong to their respective owners, most of which asked with permission. In the following list: **Paper Mario: Double-Sided Partners are owned by . **Paper Mario: Sticker Star *RECUT* and Paper Mario: Color Splash RECUT's recut exclusive Partners are made by , but have a weaver to make them technical property of Nintendo. This also goes along with Paper Mario: Relic Hunter and Paper Mario: Wonder Journey. **Paper Mario: The Ancient Book Partners are owned by . **Paper Mario 5: The Rise of Shadow Partners are owned by . **Paper Mario: Heart to Heart Partners are owned by . 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